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Thursday, November 29, 2007

The Comics Gnome POOTS! Worlds of Difference...

SPOILER ALERT! SPOLIER ALERT!!!For those not posseessing the Gnosis of Esoterica one needs to navigate the oceans of fiction scribbled by geekmen & fanboys...please avert your eyes to this following post...aka: Hey Kiwi...if you haven't finished DC FIFTY-TWO yet, skip this. Don't ruin it for yourself because FIFTY-TWO: Week 52 is an excellent issue

The Comics Gnome came in through the Bathroom window...protected by what appeared to be a silver spoon. Upon further inspection I found the artifact to be nothing much more than a Spork brushed with grey model paint.

SPORK! The best utensil to eat cubes of pork but iDigress...

The Gnome looked a bit haggard. Grizzled. Road-weary, one could say. Pooped!

"Where the Hell have you been? Where the hell are my funnybooks? What the hell happened to you?", were my initial queries.

His answer was, "Zzzzzzz...". He'd fallen asleep. In the tub, to boot. Well...I've taken a few wasted nights sleeping in the tub myself so who am I to cast stones.

Fast forward to the next morning. I got the Strongest Coffee on Infinite Earths once again and a dubble-extra large for His Gnomeness. Across the coffee table I see his peaked red hat jaunting towards me and finally a lump of shortness deposits itself on my couch, "What's that smell?" he scrutches his bespeckled nose.

"Oh...that's me. I couldn't take a shower this morning. Wonder why?", I wink at my erstwhile enabler of entertainment.

The Comics Gnome sips his coffee..."wow, this really is the strongest cup of coffee in the Multiverse!"

Sully Sez, "No I said on Infinite Earths".

The Gnome retorts, "Man, you gotta get current...right now there are only Fifty-Three. I mean Fifty-Two since Earth-15 got destroyed. I just got back from beyond the Source Wall...don't argue with me, lad."

What the Heck is the Gnome talking about. Well for one thing, we're NOT talking about MARVEL Comics Multiverse. Wow...what a mess. They need their own CRISIS after over 50 years of accumulated stories & continuity.

The Gnome was speaking of the only Multiverse that counts...the DC Multiverse. Being fair though, the "Original" DCU Multiverse used to be as confounding as MARVEL's current playground. It's list got a little cumbersome until the Silver Age Classic CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS attempted to streamline what could be confusing to new readers. From what were Infinite Earths became the One Earth...not to be confused with Earth-One mind you. See? I bet you already could be breathing through your mouth just thinking about it. Me personally...like Superman Prime I grew up in the Age of the Original Multiverse and thought it was just fine to follow. I start talking the Multiverse to OCHO's very own "El Post", a newer reader and his eyes lose focus and he swears he starts smelling oranges & blacks out for about 5 minutes. Posty is correct in a fashion. What fun is a funnybook when you need encyclopedic knowlegde in order to Grok. Explaining it takes time and focus...like Bible Study it takes personal responsibility to assume all this information.

But from this One Earth came "New Earth" in the wake of INFINITE CRISIS. When the Original Multiverse survivors returned to "fix" this flawed, ever-darkening One Earth...the New Earth was its result. Following INFINITE CRISIS was the fantastic weekly series DC FIFTY-TWO. The so-called "Secret of FIFTY-TWO" was remarkable...52 identical copies of the New Earth existed on different vibrational "superstrings" or Branes. A new DCU Multiverse was born...in FIFTY-TWO: Week 52 we see how the parralel New Earths were crafted to be reminiscent of previous ELSEWORLDS tales, Imaginary Stories, limited-series imprints and the other accrued properties of Warner Bros./DC Comics (i.e. Charlton, Fawcett & WildStorm Comics). And in the 52 Earths are room for new ideas, directions and stories with familiar and alien characters. Hey...esoteric gnosis all aside, it still boils down to storytelling and being entertained. And so far, I am really entertained by these DC stories.

What FINAL CRISIS in May 2008 is DC Counting Down to? Only time will tell. COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS just hit it's mid-point and its stride. It's brought in one of my favorite villains to the Mix and I'm now looking forward to every new issue. Sure, there were more than a few mediocre weeks during COUNTDOWN that made me question. I've also been tuned into other COUNTDOWN titles and one I'm really anticipating is the four-issue weekly COUNTDOWN: ARENA. Why? Does a picture say a 1,000 words?

interior art from December's COUNTDOWN: ARENA #1

COUNTDOWN: ARENA pits versions of heroes against eachother in a death-match. Why? The Hero formerly known as Captain Atom is now the villain called the Monarch. Monarch wants to restore the One Earth but one of his own creation (similarly Superman Prime wants to do this as well but he wants Earth-Prime restored, as usual). In order to do this, Monarch is building his own "Justice League" complete with a Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern, The Ray, Nightshade, Flash, Blue Beetle and Atom. Each one picked from a different Earth in the New Multiverse. Three Heroes enter the Arena but only one will leave.

So far, DC has an "official" list of the Ever-Building Multiverse. What is keen to notice are omissions. Such as the unrevealed Earth-1 which is different than New Earth. Or I posit this...in issue #2 of the hiatus-plaugued Grant Morrison/Gene Ha WildStorm THE AUTHORITY (Vol. 4), the Authority find themselves on an alternate Earth where there are no superheroes and their adventures are funnybooks??? Does this sound like Earth-Prime to you, True Believer? Since WildStorm is now Earth-50 and Grant Morrison is writing FINAL CRISIS? Hmmmm...

The Gnome, well-travelled intends to stay on this Earth for a long while. Well...that is until there are more stories of the Multiverse to tell.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

So the Bruins lost two-in-a-row to the Ottawa Senators. The Sens are first place in the Northeast Division so being beat by the best can only hurt so much. Tonight the Beantowne Bee's face off against NE Division Rivals Buffalo Sabres and will see them again on Saturday. In between the Bruins play the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. The Bruins won 4-3 against the Sabres starting off Divisional November on 11/1 but then lost the Home-at-Home against Ottawa. Next week, the Bruins will see the Toronto Maple Leafs and then Les Habitants de Montreal again the following Saturday. 9 of the 13 matches this month are against divisional rivals and the rivals are all in a row from the 1st to the 20th. The last four games of the month are against non-division teams. Losing against the 13-1 Ottawa Senators, who haven't missed a beat since making the Stanley Cup Finals last season isn't that bad but the Bruins will dig an early grave if they can't beat the rest of the Northeast in this month.

The Bruins have been suffering from a power outage on what this Smoking PUCK likes to refer to as the Soggy Numbers. SOG...Shots On Goal. Sure the Bruins are 7-5-1 13 games into the new season, currently in 3rd place 4 points behind Montreal in 2nd. But the most alarming statistic to jump out at me is the Shots On Goal. The Bruins have only have 30+ SOG in three of the thirteen games played. Currently, the Bruins average 24.3 shots on goal per game. Not even 10 shots per period in places. Some games I see 6 & 7 shots on goal in a period. That even equals boring hockey to watch...and we've had enough of that in this town. The B's topped off at 39 SOG in the 2-1 Loss to Philadelphia (which we'll talk more about in a moment) last week but the Black & Gold were particularly fired up to want to stick it to the Flyers...why?

Because Boston Bruins superstar Patrice Bergeron got hurt. He had lots of help getting hurt by the way. When the Philadelphia Flyers came to town Saturday, October 27 in the first period, Randy Jones hit Bergeron from behind into the boards. Besides suffering a 2-1 loss, the Bruins might have lost one of their brightest stars for an indeterminate amount of time. Bergeron suffered a Grade 3 Concussion. Brain injury can occur in Grades 2 & 3...he was unconscious for almost 10 minutes & motionless on the ice. Whew...he's also got a broken nose. He's alive and will eventually recover. Jones was suspended for 2 games. It's the PUCK's opinion that his suspension was a little light. Buzz around the league is blaming the victim a bit, that Bergeron put himself in harms way by the way he positioned near the boards. Coach Claude Julien called it a "dirty hit". I think the median strip in this is the correct route. Jones was superlatively apologetic after the fact. I saw the hit happen...I felt sheer Black Fear for Patrice, only his leg moved once due to gravity. But in the immediate replay, Jones' head was turned towards the net as he checked Bergeron. Bergie's head struck where the boards meet the glass. Was it a dirty hit? No. Should Jones have hit his man THAT close to the boards...No. The fact remains that Bergeron's back was to Jones' hit. It's called "Checking From Behind"...and although the intent to injure was not there, the simple "head's up"-ness of being a Professional Hockey player was not on Jones' behalf. Checking From Behind is an awful thing to do to a fellow Professional. Jones deserves his shame and probably a few more weeks on that suspension as well. There is no time table for Bergie's return to Gahh-den Ice. He'll have a 10-minute long press conference tomorrow when we'll find out more.

A little good news...Milan Lucic is here to stay. Coach Claude likes the Cut of Lucic's Jib. So he switched his jersey number from #62 to #17...a real forward's number. Speaking of wearing a large number, failed "Next One" #88 Eric Lindros is expected to announce his retirement this week. The 34 year old center played the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Flyers then spent a few years with the (patooie!) NYC Rangers. A stint in Toronto, a year in Dallas and the man the PUCK used to refer to as "Big Dummeh" hangs up his skates. Lindros was plagued by concussions and finally a torn wrist ligament put the final nail in "L'Enfant Terrible"'s career. Will it be for good? You never know until he's too old but for now...happy trails, ya big dummeh.

In fact I just re-read Alan Moore's V FOR VENDETTA for the third time. I've yet to see the movie but I don't think I'm missing much since Moore Himself was disappointed with the movie adaptation's Hollywood-ish direction and its Americanization. This is a truly British Tale...

I also hear that if Kiwi's "behave badly" this year, the sale of fireworks will be banned. News Source

Thursday, November 01, 2007

SPOILER ALERT!!!: For Those of You In The Room Who Do Not Know The Secret of 52...You Might Wanna Skip this POOT (Leah! :P)

The Gnome & I have been circumlocutive about the DC Universe's Secret of 52 but with the looming FINAL CRISIS in May 2008, the Countdown is Halfway there.

At issue #26 of DC UNIVERSE COUNTDOWN the title offically changed to COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS. The snowball is acccumlating and now rushing down the hill at a fever pitch. It's now time for a bit of disclosure. One of my favorite DCU writers Geoff Johns pens three of my favorite titles: GREEN LANTERN, ACTION COMICS and a new fave JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA. Johns also wrote the so-called "Middle Crisis", the INFINITE CRISIS. Johns is pretty cool in my book but iDigress...

If we hop into the Way-Back Machine...WAY back in September 2003 the Gnome POOTed a little note on Mark Waid & Alex Ross' 1996 KINGDOM COME

This magnificent story and art was supplied with trappings from Alan Moore's epic-scoped but unused 1987 TWILIGHT OF THE SUPERHEROES, set in a all-too possible alternate future featuring a new generation of superheroes without moral compass.

11 years after Waid & Ross' KINGDOM COME comes its further integrating into the mainstream. Here's the Spoiler, Leah.

What was once the Elseworlds territory is now the New Multiverse, The 52...the 52 Earths of the New DCU Multiverse. What was known as this Kingdom Come world is now known as Earth-22.

And the Superman of Earth-22 has just appeared on New Earth...in this week's issue of JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #10, story by Geoff Johns & Alex Ross, written by Johns.

JSofA #10, cover by Alex Ross

Still Kicking MARVEL's @$$...DCU is Counting Down the Weeks until the FINAL CRISIS with amazing stories of men in tights.